Wartime Adventures
by SonicFanaticInc
Summary: The events of Homefront Adventures have certainly left their scars but Eggman is determined to carve new ones into our heroes. After his long silence, the mad scientist is back with a vengeance and a lust for world domination. It will take everything our heroes have to stay together, keep fighting, and keep their hopes up. But with everything crumbling around them, can they?
1. Prologue: The Begining of War

**War-Time Adventures**

Six months had gone by since it had all happened, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. The sky was a pure blue, the clouds were fluffy white, and the grass of the Green Hill Zone was a bright, vibrant green. Everything was quiet and peaceful as the various critters moved about happily. A little gray rabbit was the first to hear it coming and with a twitch of his nose, he jumped into a bush to hide. A few flickies and chipmunks were still playing as the small breeze that had been blowing slowly ceased like the tide receding right before a tsunami. The chipmunks ran for cover as they felt troubling vibrations in the ground and it was several seconds later before the filckies flew away hurriedly as they saw it racing toward them. Faster than the blink of an eye, a blue blur dashed through the area with a gust of wind. There was a cloud of dust and grass as he skidded to a stop at the top of a hill. When the dust cleared, Sonic the Hedgehog was standing there, looking out over the rolling hills and valleys of the zone. He spotted something of interest on the next hill over and was there in a flash. Sonic knelt and gently touched the soft petals of one of the native purple flowers that grew in Green Hill. The plant was in full bloom, its petals spread wide and relaxing scent wafting through the air. It was perfect. Sonic went to pick the lovely blossom when his wrist communicator buzzed and rang.

"Hello?" said Sonic as he stood up and answered it.

"SONIC!" came Tails' panicked voice on the other line, "Where are you?! You need to get over to my place right NOW!"

The azure hedgehog was already breaking into a run as he tried to calm his best friend, "Slow it down Tails, I'm on my way. What's happening?"

"It's Eggman! He's attacking Chun-Nan! I'm looking at the news right now! There's drones firebombing buildings and Egg Fighters in the streets, and and, it's just chaos! What are we going to do!?"

"We're going to do what we always do: Stop him. Get everyone else rounded it up and fire up the Tornado. I'm almost there." With that Sonic hung up and ran even faster. 'I guess that visit will have to wait.' thought Sonic as he blasted over the hills and into the Emerald Forest towards Tails' house.

When Sonic arrived, Knuckles and Amy were just getting there as well. They all went to the garage door as it rumbled open to reveal Tails' pride and joy: The Tornado. He jumped in and started the engine. The plane came to life with a roar of its engine and settled into a low rumbling purr. Amy and Knuckles got in the back while Sonic took his favorite spot on the wing. In no time they were in the air and speeding towards their destination on the other side of the world.

"Why the heck is Eggman attacking Chun-Nan anyways?" shouted Amy over the plane engine, "It doesn't make any sense!"

Knuckles cracked his namesakes as he replied, "Who knows and who cares! All that matters is that we stop him and help those people. Right Sonic?"

Sonic nodded as he said, "I just hope we get there before it's too late. Tails, can't this thing go any faster?"

"She's going full throttle! I do have something but… it's still in the experimental stage." said Tails hesitantly as he tried to push the plane to go faster. "I installed a Chaos Emerald in the plane not only for power but in the hopes of creating, for lack of a better word, a warp drive. Basically Chaos Control for the Tornado. But I'm still tinkering with it and I have no idea if it'll work."

"We got no other choice Tails. At this rate all of Chun-Nan is going to be a pile of ash. Do it."

Tails looked back at Knuckles and Amy who nodded in agreement before taking in a big breath, "OK. Here goes nothing. Hang on you guys!" He punched various buttons on the dashboard and grasped a knob surrounded by black and yellow stripes to indicate danger. "Initiating Chaos Drive… NOW!" He turned the knob and the plane lurched forward at amazing speed. There was flash and the plane was gone.

* * *

In another brilliant flash of light, the Tornado and its passengers appeared above Chun-Nan unharmed. The sky was filled with big plumes of black smoke and Eggman's flying drones. The drones were dropping bomb after bomb on the defenseless city and the flames washed over everything like waves of water. Dozens upon dozens of Egg Fighters were marching in the streets and destroying everything in their path. The heroes were shocked and stared down at the destruction, unsure of where to start their relief efforts. A high pitched scream rang out from below as woman cowered before an Egg Fighter armed with a chainsaw sword.

"Tails, you stay in the air and try to thin out the drones. Knuckles, Amy, and I will be on the ground. Let's go!" ordered Sonic before jumping from the wing with Knuckles and Amy following his lead without hesitation. The Egg Fighter was raising its sword and the woman, too frightened to move, screamed again. There was a flash of blue and the sword hit the ground harmlessly. The robot looked around in confusion before turning to see Knuckles' fist rocketing towards its screen. The blow landed dead center, knocking it back only to be thrown forward by a swing of Amy's hammer. Knuckles then finished it off with another punch to the head before turning to deal with another robot that was coming up behind him.

"Let's split up!" suggested Knuckles as he punched through the torso of the Egg Fighter and ripped out a fistful of wires and parts, "We can cover more ground."

"Good idea. Keep your communicators on and don't be afraid to call for back-up. If you see that fat egg floating around, give me a holler. I want to deal with him myself."

"Got it!" said Knuckles and Amy as they dashed off in different directions. At this point, the Chun-Nan military had at last gotten mobilized and their ground units were spilling into the streets guns ablazing while jets were taking to the skies.

"Attention aircraft, identify yourself immediately or be shot down!" crackled a voice through the radio on the Tornado. Tails was bobbing and weaving around building rooftops in pursuit of one of the drones. "This is your last warning! Identify yourself or be shot down!"

With a frustrated growl, Tail hit the button to reply, "I'm Tails the Fox and I'm here to help! Sorry if I'm being rude but I'm kinda busy shooting down these drones and some help would be great!"

"… Glad to have you." With that, the jets broke formation and began pursuing the hundreds of drones flying above the city. Tails returned his full attention to the slippery little drone that was evading him. At last, it flew right into his crosshairs.

"GOTCHA!" shouted Tails triumphantly as he pulled the trigger and two missiles launched from the Tornado and blew the drone to a thousand pieces. "Yes! Now for the rest."

* * *

As Tails and the Chun-Nan Air Force battled in the skies, Knuckles was helping rescue workers dig survivors out of trapped buildings while Amy was clearing the way for emergency vehicles, and people trying to evacuate. Sonic was running about as fast as he could go, creating huge twisters to suck all of the air from the fires engulfing the buildings and to keep them from spreading. He stopped as he heard a shrill, distressed scream, "HELP! OVER HERE! HELP PLEASE!" Just as he turned to answer the cry, a fire truck screeched to a halt and deployed its ladder. The firefighters were pulling a woman from the third story of an apartment building that was nearly engulfed in flames. But even as they brought her down to safety, the woman continued to scream and she pulled against her rescuers.

Sonic dashed over as they got her safely to the ground, "What's the problem here?"

"I have no freaking idea! We just saved her and she's screaming and hollering and trying to get back into the darn building!" replied a firefighter with a shrug.

"My baby is still in that building you idiots!" shrieked the woman as she tried to run back towards the apartments.

The firefighter stopped her and held her back, insisting "Lady, we didn't see a baby! It was just you!"

"No, no! My little girl was standing right next to me and when I turn around again she was gone! She must have gotten scared and hid! You have to let me in! PLEASE! I have to save my baby!" pleaded the woman as she fought harder.

"Well what the heck are we still doing here, let's get that little girl!" said Sonic as he prepared to dash at the building.

Once again the firefighter stood in the way, "Not happening; that building is coming down any second! It's suicidal! I'm sorry to say, lady, but she most likely already dead. " The words of the firefighter struck Sonic as horribly familiar and he stopped for a moment, frozen, as he remembered. The sounds of the woman and firefighter arguing seemed so distant suddenly and time felt stopped.

'No… Not again… Never again…' thought Sonic as he looked up at the window the woman had been rescued out of. Sonic jumped up onto the fire truck, off the ladder, and into the burning apartment. Immediately he began to cough as thick black smoke filled his lungs. Sweat was pouring down his face and body from the intense heat of the fire. Sonic took a step forward and the floorboard gave way under his foot, crashing into the inferno below. Furiously wiping the sweat from his eyes, Sonic continued forward, as quickly and carefully as he could manage. He mostly kept his eyes looking downwards to see any signs of the little girl. All of the doorframes were blocked by fire so she had to been somewhere in the room. Through the black haze, Sonic spotted what looked to be the remains of a sofa. He carefully shuffled over and looking down, saw the corner of a blanket sticking out. Using all of his might, which was quickly fading as he inhaled more smoke, he shoved the furniture aside. Lying there on the floor was a small girl clutching a ragged looking blanket.

Sonic picked her up and she mumbled weakly, "Mummy…"

"Don't worry sweet pea, we're going back to your mom right now." said Sonic as he put the blanket over her face to block out some of the smoke. The building creaked, groaned and actually began to shift as the floor rumbled under the stress. Sonic dashed for the window, the ceiling coming down in fiery chunks. He jumped out as the boiler in the building's basement blew and the whole thing collapsed inward. Blinded by the smoke, he missed the ladder and landed roughly on the roof of the fire truck before falling to the pavement. Luckily, he had managed to land on his back so the little girl was unharmed.

The woman ran over, arms open, "My baby! Is she alright!?" Sonic got to his feet and took the blanket away from her face. Now that she was out in the fresh air, the girl perked up a bit and began to cough. Sonic handed her to her mother who kissed and hugged the child, "Oh thank goodness! My baby!" Tears were streaming down the woman's face as she looked at Sonic, "Gaia bless you Sonic the Hedgehog! Thank you so much." She then ran off to join the crowd down the street that was leaving the city as fast as they could.

"That took some serious guts… Either you're crazy or insanely brave." Said the firefighter as the rest of his crew began hosing down the burning wreckage and the fires around it.

Sonic shrugged, "I guess I'm a little bit of both. But I wasn't about to let that little girl die in there. I gotta go, be careful." With that Sonic blasted off again to do whatever else he could to help.

* * *

This went on for hours; most of the city was on fire and burning to the ground, hundreds were trapped inside collapsed buildings, thousands were running in the streets from the Egg Fighters as well as trying to evacuate. The soldiers of Chun-Nan were overwhelmed and while G.U.N. had finally arrived as well, things were still engulfed in chaos and panic. The Chun-Nan Air Force, with Tails' help, had managed to shoot down most of the drones but the damage was already done. On the ground Knuckles, Amy, and Sonic were fighting hard to destroy the Egg Fighters and help with rescue/evacuation efforts. Finally, as the moon rose to illuminate all the destruction, all of the robots and drones just shut down.

Everyone was startled and confused as the Egg Fighters fell over where they stood and the drones dropped out of the sky. However, without their interference, rescue efforts went faster and people could at last be removed from the areas that had been hit the worst. It was nearly dawn before Sonic and his friends were able to get in the Tornado and start home, confident that Chun-Nan and G.U.N. could handle the situation. Tails put the plane on auto-pilot and everyone settled in for a little nap on the way home.

A few hours later, the boys were jerked awake by Amy's screams. She was sobbing hysterically and one quick look below them revealed why. They were flying above the area where they had made not just their homes, but so many memories and it was all destroyed. Just like Chun-Nan, the sky was blackened by smoke and fires dotted the Emerald Forest and Green Hill Zone. There were craters everywhere and upon closer examination, the places were each of their homes stood were now nothing but smoking craters and piles of debris. The four of them could only huddle together in the plane in shock. Even Angel Island's lush vegetation was in flames but thankfully, it was still floating in the sky.

The Tornado, landed automatically outside what was left of Tails' house and the fox jumped out in tears, "NO! How could this happen!? Who could do this?!"

Knuckles' gaze was fixed on the silhouette of Angel Island as it burned, "It was a set-up. Eggman got us away from here so he could trash it. That why we never saw him at Chun-Nan…"

Sonic slammed his fist into a nearby blacked tree angrily as he growled, "That creep! He's trying to get under our skin! Well it's not going to work! We're going to his base right freaking now and stop this!"

"But wait!" shrieked Amy as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "Cream and Vanilla live in this area too and I didn't see their house from the air. We have to make sure they're alright!"

Tails' eyes went wide, "You don't think that-"

Knuckles cut him off, "Only one way to find out. Let's go." Within minutes, they arrived at where Cream's house was supposed to be but it was nothing but a smoldering pile of wood.

Amy let out an anguished sob, "CREAM! Oh my Chaos, no!" Amy fell to her knees crying, "She was just a little girl! Her and her mom didn't deserve this! Why? Just… why?" As Sonic tried to comfort her, Tails and Knuckles picked through the wreckage a bit searching for some sign of the rabbit, her mother, or her pet Chao, Cheese.

"I don't see anything to suggest they were here when the house exploded Amy." said Tails as he put a hand on her shoulder, "Maybe they escaped. We can't give up hope. Right Sonic?"

The cerulean hedgehog nodded, "Tails is right. Eggman is trying to make us give up but it's not going to work! We're going to stay together and beat him, just like always."

* * *

Right then, the sound of a helicopter could be heard over head. The group turned to see a black G.U.N. helicopter approaching. It landed near-by and much to everyone's surprise, Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega climbed out. Rouge was wearing a G.U.N. vest much like the one Shadow had worn except it had a few less decorations. Omega's rank was welded to his front as well as a small plate that read 'G.U.N.'.

As they came up Rouge said, "I can see this place has been hit too. I'm sorry."

"Its bad here but not as bad as Chun-Nan. You should be over there helping those people. What are you doing here?" snapped Sonic as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Whoa, someone's touchy. What's your problem?"

Knuckles stood beside Sonic, equally hostile, "G.U.N. isn't exactly welcome around here. What do you want Rouge?"

She scoffed and shook her head, "I have no idea what you guys are talking about but I don't really care right now. Eggman is attacking almost every major city in the world and we need your help to stop him."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy at once.

"It is true. Somehow he has managed to amass an enormous army and is sending out legions of troops to the major cities and capitals of the world." Explained Omega as he projected several images of cities around the world thrown into chaos just like Chun-Nan. Thousands of Egg Fighters fighting against battalions of G.U.N. soldiers but they were simply too numerous and pushed through the lines of defense. "You four have a special set of skills that will prove invaluable."

Incredulous, Tails stammered, "But, but that's impossible! The span of time it would take to create all of those robots and-and prepare them and-and the amount of resources required!"

Amy shook her head in disbelief, "Eggman's never done something this big before!"

"My Chaos…" muttered Knuckles, "That must have been why he was so quiet in the last couple years… He was preparing for war…"

"War? Whoa, whoa, let's not get carried away and start slapping crazy labels on this thing." Replied Sonic sternly, "We'll stomp this out just like always. There's no sense in freaking out."

"Really?! Were you not paying attention?! This isn't like one of Eggman's pathetic attempts at world domination. He's going for it with everything he's got!" shot back Rouge, "Knuckles used the perfect label. This is war."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I'm back you guys! After an extremely long leave of absence, I'm back in business. Boy let me tell you, I haven't just been sitting on my butt either. I finished high school, became single, got a job, and I'm prepping for college! Things are a little hectic but I'm inspired and ready to roll! I'm going to be posting two stories now so check out the other one when you got a chance. Oh, and I'm deeply sorry to say that Werehog20 and I will no longer be collaborating on the series 'Holiday Mayhem'. I'm really disappointed that we couldn't post the newest one; we were so close to being done and it would have been really great but we had such a drama filled falling out, it just couldn't and wouldn't happen. Once again, you all have my deepest apologizes and it's a stab in the heart for me as a writer to leave that series undone. But anyways, I hope you like this sequel to Homefront Adventures. Werehog helped me come up with some of the basic groundwork to start but this one is all me! It's going to be a little darker, have some emotional drama, but still be packed with adventure! So please read, review, and enjoy! :D **


	2. The World's Downward Spiral

**Chapter 2**

The more time that went by, the more bleak things looked. This 'war' as everyone was now calling it dragged on for months. Eggman's initial assaults on the major cities of the world turned out to be mostly successful. Because they took place all over the world, it was impossible for G.U.N. to send enough troops to deal with the attacks in every location. All too aware that what was happening was far bigger than them, Sonic and his friends had reluctantly joined forces with G.U.N and temporarily tried put aside the past. But even with them working together, everything was in a vicious downward spiral.

Early on, Eggman tried to steal the Master Emerald in a desperate attempt to protect it, Knuckles smashed it and scattered the shards all over the continent. This caused Angel Island to fall into the sea and flood nearby coastlines. Team Chaotix had joined the fight against Eggman but Vector and Charmy were tragically killed in an ambush in Mazuri. The rest of the heroes had found Espio clinging to life in the middle of the savannah where the team had been left to die. This was a hard blow for Knuckles and he slowly began to withdraw, becoming more negative and cynical. He wasn't the only one to lose hope either. As they lost more and more land to Eggman, Sonic's normally fearless and bolstering leadership began to crumble. Everyone would turn to him to boost their spirts and encourage them but the blue hedgehog would be at loss; unsure how to see the good in their situation and how they could possibly win. Sonic would disappear for days at a time to the ruins of the area that used to be their home and the wreckage of the G.U.N. base where Miky died. This caused enormous friction between him and Knuckles who accused him of being weak, stuck in the past, and irresponsible.

As a result, Tails found himself stepping up more and more to take on the role of leader to calm everyone down and try to keep everyone positive. He would lead them into battle and try to keep them all together. Several time Tails tried to talk to Sonic about resuming his role but he would refuse and say Tails was doing fine. But, while Tails tried his best, it wasn't enough. The heroes were constantly fighting and on the verge of giving up. Eventually, Eggman had pushed the heroes and G.U.N. out of almost every country and city on Mobius. He controlled Chun-Nan, Adabat, Holoska, and Empire City as well as having rebuilt EggmanLand for his central base. Mazuri and Shamar were fully engulfed as battle zones but Apotos and Spagonia were still firmly in the hands of good. In fact Spagonia was now where the world's leaders, G.U.N and the heroes resided and served as a main point of resistance as well as a massive refuge for people fleeing from Eggman-ruled countries. They had managed to hold onto these locations against more than a few attacks by Eggman but playing defense was really all they could do at this point.

Determined to at least win the areas that were still undecided war-zones and further crush the spirits of the heroes, Eggman released the pride of his armies. Much to everyone's horror, the mad scientist began to flood the battlegrounds of Mazuri and Shamar with legions of Shadow Clones. Rouge and Omega recognized these clones as the ones they had seen years ago in one of Eggman's bases sometime after Rouge had discovered Omega and Shadow locked away in a secret room. Eggman had clearly managed to improve them as all of the clones were fast, powerful, and downright vicious. However, as beaten down and discouraged our heroes were becoming, nothing could prepare them for the set of events that would happen next.

* * *

Espio, who served as the group's main source of intelligence by using his stealth to infiltrate Eggman's mini-bases in neighboring areas, discovered that Eggman was planning to launch an attack on Windmill Isle in Apotos.

"What? Apotos? There's nothing Eggman could gain strategically from taking that location. Are you sure?" asked the G.U.N. Commander as he, the world leaders, and the heroes sat in the war room of the Spagonia G.U.N. HQ.

Espio nodded as he took out a digital camera and hooked it up to the war room's projector, "I took these photos of Egg Fighters and Shadow Clones being loaded into air transports. I found out the coordinates by using Tails' new wireless hacking device to access the transports' computers."

"Good it works. Now you don't have to plug into consoles and risk getting caught. Is the range good?" inquired Tails.

"Decent. Could be a little better. So what's the plan for dealing with this?"

"Well the Commander is right; Apotos isn't exactly a good location strategically. There's no natural resources, which Eggman is in constant need of to maintain his armies. Anyone have any ideas?" Tails looked at his fellow heroes, hoping one of them would say something. Amy opened her mouth as if to speak but shook her head and continued to think. Rouge and Omega looked at each other with a shrug while Sonic appeared to be lost in his own thoughts.

Finally Knuckles spoke up, "It's a morale thing. Mazuri and Shamar, the two locations Eggman really needs, are still up in the air so he thinks that we're probably so short on man-power that Apotos would be an easy win. It would discourage us and make winning the really important countries easier."

The leader of Chun-Nan nodded as he stood to speak, "I know that my warriors have been losing heart ever since we lost our home. It would be even harder for them to continue to go on knowing that Eggman had won again…"

"He speaks the truth." Agreed the leader of Mazuri, "How are my men supposed to have hope if country after country falls and ours is next in line?"

"Same here. It would start mutiny; people will want to give up and submit themselves to Eggman." said the leader of Shamar. The other leaders were murmuring in agreement, the fear growing in their voices.

"Perhaps it would be better for us to surrender to Dr. Eggman? It would minimize casualties and destruction in the cities if we come up with some sort of peace terms." Suggested the leader of Adabat.

The leader of Holoska scoffed, "Coward! Your tiny, weak country may be willing to bow to that mad-man but my people resisted to the very end and are stilling fighting from within in every small way they can! The only reason you're here is because your people exiled you to show their loyalty for Eggman!"

The Chun-Nan leader snorted in contempt, "The people of Adabat always lacked honor." At this the leaders began arguing and yelling back forth insults and accusations as the heroes tried to calm everyone down.

"QUIET!" roared the G.U.N. Commander. An eerie hush fell over the room as the Commander swept his gaze over all of them, "It doesn't matter whose country surrendered and whose was defeated. What matters is that they are now in the hands of Dr. Eggman and we must get them back. But before we can do that, we have to make sure he doesn't acquire anymore territory. And that starts by ensuring Apotos stays free. It's clear that Eggman is planning to demoralize us by winning it. Fighting is only one half of war. The other half is psychology."

"The Commander has a point." Added Tails, "And we can do both if we manage to fight and defend Apotos. It could at least make Eggman a little more cautious and insecure if we can beat him. First we defend Apotos, than we win Mazuri and Shamar, than we start to take back land form Eggman!"

Knuckles stood beside Tails, "And don't forget, we found the 6th Emerald last month. If we could find the 7th sooner rather than later…"

Rouge jumped up, "We have a real shot at winning this war!"

"No amount of robots, or clones, or whatever has stood up to the 7 Emeralds!" piped up Amy. "We just have to keep working as a team! All of us!"

The President now stood, "Team Heroes, will you go to Apotos and defend it against Dr. Eggman? We have literally no troops to spare and you are the country's last line of defense."

Tails drew himself up to his full height, his little furry chest puffed out, "We'd be honored, Sir. We won't let you down. Espio, when do you think Eggman will launch the attack?"

"Within the next 12 hours I should think." Replied the ninja as he reviewed his photos and data again.

Omega took another quick look as well, "Taking into account the size of the transports, their maximum speed, capacity, and distance from location… I calculate the attack to be in 3 hours, 27 minutes and 16 seconds to be precise. Shall I initiate a countdown?"

"Not quite yet Omega. Come on everyone, to Apotos!" ordered Tails as everyone headed for the aircraft hangar.

* * *

On the way, Knuckles noticed Sonic walking with them and said coldly, "I'm surprised you're coming with us. You were so quiet during the meeting; I almost forgot you were there."

Sonic looked at him briefly before turning his eyes forward again, "What do you want from me Knuckles? Why do you keep acting like a jerk to me?"

"Why do you keep moping around and being generally useless?"

"I'm not moping around."

"Then why do you disappear and not come back for two or three days at a time?"

The azure hedgehog whipped his head around to glare at Knuckles and retort, "Why do YOU disappear for two or three days at a time?"

"Because I'm looking for the shards of the Master Emerald so they don't fall into the hands of that mad scientist who controls more than HALF the world!" shot back the dread-sporting echidna "Look Sonic, it's been long enough. Get over it, get over her. Stop going back to that pile of rubble and just staring at it. It's not going to change anything."

"I know that! I keep trying to tell you guys that something's not right there but you never listen!" protested Sonic.

"That's because you're not reliable! There's nothing there!"

"Wh-what!? Not reliable!? Are you kidding me?!"

Knuckles scoffed, "I wish I was! Ever since… well you know, you've been a wreck! You've dumped, quite literally, the world on Tails' shoulders and left him to deal with it. Do you call that reliable?" As they were arguing, Sonic and Knuckles had stopped walking and everyone else noticed and watched awkwardly, unsure what to do.

Amy sighed and whispered sarcastically, "This mission is off to a great start…"

Omega whirred before saying "I calculate our chances of success at-"

"Just don't Omega." Interrupted Rouge as she rubbed her temples to try and ease her headache, "I want to maintain a little hope."

"Then it might please you to know that our chances of survival are slightly better than that of our success." Rouge groaned and continued walking towards the hanger.

Espio nudged Tails towards the bickering males, "You're our leader; Put a stop to this before it comes to blows again. We don't have time to waste."

Reluctantly, Tails went over to Sonic and Knuckles and forced his way between them, "Knock it off you two, we need to get going." The two continued to glare at each other as Tails went on, "We need to be a team now more than ever. So whatever you're arguing about, put it aside." After a final glare, Sonic and Knuckles continued walking with everyone one else. Upon arriving in the hangar, Tails, Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy got in the Tornado while Rouge, Omega, and Espio jumped into a G.U.N. plane. After being cleared for take-off, they began flying towards Apotos.

* * *

**Author's Note: Man, things sure are rough for our heroes. But they can still win right? Right? 0.0 Guess we'll have to find out. Don't worry I'll try and post it ASAP. I'm working from an outline of the plot that was made ahead of time so it should go a little faster but who knows lol Please read, review, and most of all enjoy.  
**


	3. Ill Omens

**Chapter 3**

It was a short flight for Team Heroes and in no time they had arrived in Apotos. They huddled up to discuss their battle plan. Tails begun the discussion, "Ok, he's probably going to come at us with a mix of Egg Fighters and Shadow Clones. Omega, I want you to find somewhere slightly higher up so you have full view of the battlefield and can aim better."

"Agreed. I will destroy all of Eggman's forces." Replied the robot as he cycled out one of his hands for a machine gun.

"I don't want us to get too spread out because than we can get picked off one by one. Wherever Omega finds his vantage point is the area we all stick to. If we can, I'd like us to mostly stay back to back so nobody gets caught off guard from behind." Continued Tails. "Sound like a plan you guys?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Then let's do this. For Mobius."

Tails put his hand in the middle and everyone put their hands in on top of it before shouting, "For Mobius!"

"Aww how sweet." Said a familiar voice mockingly, "Nothing brings together a disorganized, dysfunctional, bickering team like a good huddle!" Everyone whirled around to see none other than Dr. Eggman. He was standing in the cockpit of a dangerous looking mech stroking his bushy mustache. The mech was a monstrous 25 feet tall with huge machine guns on either forearm and missile launchers on its shoulders. On the mech's right was a battalion of Egg Fighters armed with chainsaw swords and electrified shields and on its left was a group of Shadow clones. "I almost feel silly for bringing so much support with me. If I had known it'd just be the seven of you, I wouldn't have bothered."

Bristling in anger at the very sight of the Shadow clones, Sonic shouted, "Well why don't you put your money where your mouth is Egghead!"

The evil scientist threw back his head and laughed, "If you insist rodent!" He jumped in his mech and the cockpit closed, a glimmering shield going over the glass, "ATTACK!" The Egg Fighters and clones all leaped forward towards the heroes and the fight was on.

"Positions you guys! Just like we talked about!" yelled Tails as Omega quickly found higher ground upon a ridge. Everyone clustered together, back to back as the Fighters and clones attacked. Eggman tried to fire missiles to break their formation but Omega countered with missiles of his own. The strategy was working well and the numbers of clones and robots were beginning to thin out. In no time at all, the heroes would be free to tackle Eggman head-on together.

Seeing this as a distinct possibility, Eggman taunted, "I'm surprised you haven't come after me yet Sonic. Too afraid to take me on without back up? Too afraid and traumatized by my Shadow clones?"

"I'm NOT afraid! You and your faker clones can go to hell!" yelled Sonic as he broke formation and charged toward Eggman.

"Sonic no! It's a-AH!" cried Tails as an Egg Fighter rammed into him with its shield. He hit the ground roughly and as everyone turned to see if he needed help, all hell broke loose. With the back to back formation broken and everyone scrambling about everywhere, Omega couldn't risk laying down cover fire or launching missiles with the risk of hitting someone. Several Egg Fighters were ganging up on the heroes while clones snuck up to deal blows from behind. Sonic was fighting Eggman's mech alone and quickly found himself overwhelmed.

* * *

The giant robot was much more nimble than it looked; it was jumping to and fro and side stepping Sonic's attacks all while launching missiles and firing its machine guns. Growing frustrated and even angrier, Sonic's attacks were getting brash, reckless and predictable. He jumped straight at the mech's cockpit in a homing attack but Eggman snatched him out of the air and held him in the mech's metal, vice-like hands.

"Ho ho ho! Oh Sonic you're soooo easy to manipulate nowadays!" gloated Eggman as Sonic struggled to free himself, "I mean really? You actually went for that? I wasn't even trying! You make it too easy!"

"Argh! When I get out of this, you're going to be sorry Eggman!" threatened Sonic as he struggled more.

Eggman tightened his grip and cackled once more, "I'd be less worried about me and more about your little team over there!" Sonic craned his neck to see the Egg Fighters and Shadow clones backing the others into a corner. "Face it Sonic, you never had a chance against me. The fight has gone out of you, you've lost hope." The cockpit opened to reveal Eggman grinning evilly, "And when the heroes lose hope, the villain wins." The mech began to squeeze Sonic, threatening to crush him. As the blue hedgehog began to gasp for air, the Egg Fighters and Shadow Clones were raising their weapons and preparing to open fire on the cornered heroes.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a bright flash of light followed a blur of gray and purple. The fighters and clones were stopped in their tracks by a teal aura and Eggman cried out in surprise as a giant fireball flew at the open cockpit. He quickly closed it and put up the shield, dropping Sonic in the process. The fire ball struck the mech and scorched the body but didn't do much damage. The Egg Fighters and Shadow clones were levitated in the air and launched at the mech, destroying them all and doing more substantial damage.

"AHH! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" exclaimed Eggman the mech stumbled backward from the impacts. Everyone turned to see Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat standing side by side atop a boulder.

"This is what happens when you mess with the future!" shouted Silver as he levitated several large rocks. Blaze set them on fire with her pyrokinesis and Silver launched them at Eggman with all his strength. The villain raised the mech's arms in defense but the force behind the flaming rocks made them plow right throw the metal and turn the torso into Swiss cheese.

Eggman pressed every single button in the cockpit trying to get the smoking heap he was sitting in to do something, anything, "No, no NO! Work you damned thing!" The control panel sparked and crackled before going dark and the mech shut down, "DAMN IT! Fine, you might have won this battle, heroes, but by a mere stroke of luck! I WILL win this war, I WILL reign supreme, I WILL-"

"Cram it Eggman!" interrupted Silver as he ripped the cockpit from the mech and flung it out across the ocean. It skipped like a stone for a few times before splashing into the sea. It bobbed back up the surface and motored away out of sight. Silver turned back, wiping his forehead, "Whew! Looks like we arrived just in time!"

Tails' mouth hung open for a second before he stuttered, "H-how? W-why?"

Blaze folded her arms, "I believe a thank you is in order before you start asking questions?"

"You certainly have MY thanks!" said Amy, "I thought we were done for!"

Espio still had his giant shuriken at the ready as he asked, "I don't wish to appear ungrateful, but who are you two?"

"If my memory banks are not corrupted, the female purple cat is Princess Blaze the Cat and the grayish male hedgehog is Silver the Hedgehog. They are both from the future." Answered Omega as he quickly scrolled through all information he had on Silver and Blaze, "Blaze possesses pyrokinesis while Silver uses telekinesis, or if you prefer, psychokinesis."

Rouge tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Time travel isn't easy so I'm guessing you're not here for a friendly visit."

Silver replied, "Your right; we're not. We're here to help you guys."

"We wouldn't need it if someone hadn't been an idiot and broken formation." Growled Knuckles as he glared at Sonic.

Sonic opened his mouth to shoot back a reply but Blaze cut him off, "We didn't just come to bail you out of one battle. We're here to help you win this war. In the future, Eggman controls everything and the world is in ruins."

Everyone gasped in horror as Amy asked, "So, in the future you come from… we didn't win?" Blaze shook her head. "Oh Chaos…"

"I knew it." Said Omega somberly. Everyone glared at him. "What are you looking at? It does not take scenario prediction software as advanced as mine to see that our chances of defeating Eggman at this point were slim to none."

Rouge threw up her hands, "Well then why the hell are we even fricking trying than if we have no chance!?"

"Because!" broke in Tails desperately, "We have to try! The world is counting on us! We can't just give up!"

"Exactly. That's why Blaze and I are here." Agreed Silver, "By coming back to this time where Eggman has yet to become unstoppable and helping you defeat him, we would change the future from the wreck it is now to what it should be."

"My software is still not producing a promising prediction…" muttered Omega.

Ignoring the comment Tails suggested, "We should get back to Spagonia. That way everyone can be informed on what's what and we'll all be on the same page." With silent nods of agreement, everyone boarded the planes, Silver and Blaze riding in the slightly bigger G.U.N. plane, and headed back.

* * *

Upon arrival, there was quite a lot of buzz about Silver and Blaze. Tails explained everything to the G.U.N. Commander and the world leaders in the war room and began to discuss the next course of action while the others showed the time-traveling pair around the base, caught them up on what had happened so far, and relayed some of the problems they had been having. It wasn't long before the heroes were called into the war room for a general discussion with G.U.N. on how to proceed.

The G.U.N. Commander opened things up by asking, "So, Silver and Blaze, you're here from the future to helps us win the war and prevent Eggman from ruling over everything?"

"Yes; in the future we traveled from, Eggman is the supreme ruler of all of Mobius. He wreaks havoc, killing the innocent, and leaves a path of destruction in his wake." Replied Silver as slight anger and regret entered his voice. "He's literally unstoppable. Believe me, we tried…"

"How is that possible? He had to have some sort of weakness or we defeated him at some point?"

Blaze now spoke, her face grave and voice deadly serious, "Well, that's why we came back. At some point, Eggman obtained some form of what we can only describe as the Flames of Disaster."

Everyone began mumbling uneasily amongst themselves as Silver explained, "It's not the flames that spawned Iblis obviously, because we care took of that; Blaze has them sealed inside her. But, it's very similar and has some of the same properties. It still thirsts for destruction is and driven by hate. Our goal by coming back here is to find the flames that Eggman obtains and destroy it."

"Do you know how or where Eggman finds the flames?" asked Tails. Both Blaze and Silver shrugged. "Great. Well we haven't seen any sign of something like that."

"Maybe G.U.N. knows something about it?" suggested Sonic accusingly as he glared across the table at the G.U.N. commander. "We all know your scientists like to mess around with crap they shouldn't."

The Commander immediately went on the defensive, "How dare you!? If you're suggesting G.U.N. had anything to do with-"

"I'm not saying you helped Eggman. I'm just saying you'd probably have something like in a lab somewhere."

"Well we don't. Even if we did, it's none of your business!"

Sonic scoffed as he leaned back in his chair and glanced over at Tails, "And you wonder why I'm pissed off at you for trusting these weasels."

Rouge now jumped up, "Weasels!? You got a lot of nerve talking that kind of trash in here! Grow up and move on already!"

"If he had, we wouldn't be as deep in the crap as we are now." Added Knuckles.

"That's it!" shouted Sonic as he shoved his chair away from the table, "You like blaming me for crap? Well you can blame me for the shoe print I'm about to stamp on your face!"

"STOP IT!" yelled Tails as he jumped between the two angry males, "This fighting is getting ridiculous! We're never going to beat Eggman if we keep fighting like this! In fact that's what he wants! He wants us to fight and be at each other's throats! If we're not united, we don't stand a chance!" Sonic and Knuckles continued to glare at each other before turning away in a huff.

"Teamwork or not, how are we going to find the flames and stop Eggman?" asked Espio, breaking the tense silence.

"Well, I say we attack Eggman head on and end this whole thing before he has a chance to get the flames." Said Silver.

Omega, having been silent to stay out of the drama, now spoke up with what could only be genuine disbelief in his robot voice, "What?! That is suicidal! EggmanLand is a fortress with the most effective anti-aircraft defense in the world and aircraft is the only way to approach it other than by sea. The oceans are even more dangerous than that! We would all be killed before we even set foot inside. It defies all logic and reason."

"Well what if we used these?" said Silver as he held up the glimmering white Chaos Emerald, "We found it when we first come out of the portal in Apotos. You guys do have the other six right?"

"We do!" cried Amy as she jumped up, "Now we have all seven! We can end this!"

"Let's not get all excited;" said the G.U.N. Commander cautiously, "We still need a plan of attack."

"What's to plan? We go Super, go to Eggman Land, and trash the place. Simple as that." Snapped Sonic.

Tails shook his head, "I agree with the Commander. We need an actual game plan." Sonic rolled his eyes as Tails continued, "Here's what I'm thinking. Amy, Rouge, Omega, Espio, Knuckles, and I will approach by plane. Silver, Sonic, and Blaze, are going to be Super and they'll cover us. We fly right over everything till we get to Eggman's central tower in the middle. We crash the place, and blow the power reactor."

"By my calculations, that would create a blast with enough force to completely destroy the tower and everything around it in a 6 mile radius." Said Omega. "Some of the major factories that produce Egg Fighters and such are in that radius. It would be extremely advantageous."

"IF we're successful." Added Knuckles. "Who knows what's in that tower?"

"That's why we stay cautious and ready for anything," answered Blaze, "Being Super isn't guaranteed invincibility. We'd still have to be careful, but on the whole I can see this plan being very successful. But…"

"But what?" asked Rouge.

"We haven't been here long and already I'm very concerned about how all of you are working together. It's dysfunctional and it's a recipe for disaster. I don't care how, but before we leave, you need to work your problems out and bury the hatchet. I'm not going to be killed because all of your infighting." Everyone mostly glanced at Sonic and Knuckles who looked at each other briefly before turning away.

"That sounds like a good idea Blaze. I say we leave first thing tomorrow morning." Said Tails as everyone nodded in agreement.

The G.U.N. Commander sighed wearily, "I just hope this works… I'll inform the world leaders." With that, everyone began to disperse.

Sonic and Knuckles were about to leave the room but Tails stood in the doorway, "Blaze has a point you guys… You two need to have a serious talk and work it out. I already have enough on my plate without playing referee. Please just sit down and hash it out. I'm not asking for guys to be best friends, I just want the constant fighting, glares, and blame games to stop. If not for me or yourselves, do it for the team and for all the people who are counting on us to fix this mess." Tails than left, closing the war room door behind him and leaving Sonic and Knuckles alone.

* * *

It was silent for several minutes before Knuckles blurted out, "I just want you to get over it already. It's been long enough. You have responsibilities that you're completely neglecting."

"You just don't get it, you don't understand the way I feel." Replied Sonic as he put his hands on his hips, "Not all of us can just stuff all our feelings in a bottle and chuck it over our shoulder."

"I'm not saying to bottle it up. I get it, you loved her and you never really got to express it. But dwelling and going back that heap of building isn't going to bring her back."

"I know it won't, but I keep trying to explain that there's something fishy about the place! But you never listen to me because apparently I'm 'unreliable'!" said Sonic as he began to raise his voice in anger and frustration.

Knuckles shrugged "I'm sorry what do you want me to say? It's true! I think you're just projecting your grief and trying to justify hanging around there."

"I am not! I go there to investigate! It looks like someone's been digging or something there and I've been trying to find out who and why!"

"How can you tell!?" exclaimed Knuckles, "It's a giant pile of rubble and metal! A building collapsed on that spot so it's going to look tossed around and messed up!"

"Will you just shut up and listen to me for a minute! I found a way down inside from the top and-"

Knuckles cut him off and made a time-out signal with his hands, "Whoa, whoa whoa; are you going inside?!"

Sonic hesitated a second before answering, "Well yeah but-"

"Sonic, that thing is a death trap! You shift a pebble in there and something is coming down on your head! Than what would we do? Tails is trying his best as leader but if something happened to you, he would flat out give up and so would everyone else!"

"Ugh, I know that but if you'd just listen-"

"No, I'm not going to listen! You've lost it!"

"I'm NOT crazy Knuckles!" shouted Sonic as he slammed his fist into the wall, "I'm THIS close to kicking you in face right now because you're not listening! I'm not crazy, I'm not imagining it, and I'm not making it up! Something suspicious is going on there and I'm going to find out what."

Knuckles sighed, "Sonic, what would SHE say about this? Do you think she would want you dwelling on this and being this way? I regret the fact she's gone too but I know that she would want us to concentrate on what's happening now and do our jobs."

"Don't even try that crap on me Knuckles." Growled Sonic, "Because now you're really starting to piss me off."

"Fine. Maybe its better that Tails is leader now. He may be just a kid still but at least he has his priorities straight. You'd just better pull your head out of the sand and do it quick Sonic. Because we are officially out of time for screwing around and you and your antics are only making it harder for everyone else to do what they gotta do." Said Knuckles coldly before leaving the war room and letting the door slam shut behind him. Sonic growled in frustration as he kicked a chair across the room feeling frustrated, unheard, and misunderstood.

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh boy, things are bad... Hopefully, with extra backup from Silver and Blaze, they can make this work. I mean they have to right!? Eggman can't really win right!? 0.o Well I guess we're going to have to see. Oh yes, just a little heads-up, it might take a little longer for the next chapters because I'm also working on a Halloween story that I'm determined to post on the week of Halloween. Anyways, enough of that, please read, review, and enjoy.  
**


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